of gloversville



Oct. 28 .1924. v 1,513,066 f P. H. QUICK WARP KNIT FABRIC AND METHOD OFMAKING SAME Filed Dec. 26, 1922 hues of silk etented Get. 28, 1924.

E E FD? "STATES PATENT orrice.

PAUL H. QUICK, 0F GLOV'ERSVILLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB T0 KINGSBO'RO SILKMILLS, I

INC., OF GLOVERSVILLE, NEW YORK.

WARP KNIT FABRIC AND METHOD OF -MAKING THE SAME.

Application filed December 26, 1922. Serial No. 609,093.

To all 'w/mm it may concewt:

Be it known that I, PAUL H, QUICK, a

provements in and relating to the manufac- Lure of jersey knit silkfabric of the kind commonly known in the trade as glove silk,

which as ordinarily made consists of two sets of silk threads knitlooped and lapped upon the needles of a uvo-beaxmtwo guidebar Tricot orfast warp knitting machine. This glove silk fabric, among its otheruses, is en'iployed'in the manufacture of cut silk hosiery, and is avery satisfactory material for making the leg portions of thin silkhosiery. It is not, however, satisfactory for use in making the foot andheel portions of hosiery, as it lacks the necessary thickness, stren hand durability to give good service an long wear. For this reasonhosiery made entirely of glove silk fabric, while desirablebecause ofits comfortable feel to the foot and fine appearance on the leg, doesnot possess the long wearing qualiosiery having foot and heel portionsmade of some thicker, Stronger nd more durable material.

One object of my invention is to provide an improved love silk fabric ofmaterially increased thic ness, strength and durability, and which ishighly suita Is for satisfactory use in makin the foot and heel'portionsof hosiery an for other general purposes where the use of an evensurfaced cloth of heavy texture is desired.

Another ob'ect of the invention is toprovide a knit silk fabric which ismadeof silk threads strengthened by the tlddlil'lml of threads of astronger material, butwhlch, upon its face, will have the appearance ofbeing made wholly of silk, and which 1s not limited to the use abovestated, but is also suitable for use for many other urposes where a silkeffect is desired coup ed with long wear, as in the manufacture ofcorsets, brassieres, underwear, mens soft collars, shirts, etc.

Still another object of the inventionis to provide a fabric of thecharacter described which, while knitted, will have the appearance of awoven fabric.

Still another ob'ect of the invention is to provide a metho of makingsuch a fabric, whereby the same may be made on a Tricot or fast warpknitting machine.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a view of parts of a knitting machine involved in carryingout my process and showing the arrangement for the action of theknitting mechanism on the threads.

Figure 2 isa view of a portion of fabric made in accordance with myinvention, the loops being spread and exaggerated in size to show themode of arrangement and relai tion thereof.

Referring now more particularly to big ure 1 of the drawing, 1 and 2represent the usual beams or spools of a Tricot or fast warp knittingmachine, from which pass the front and rear threads 3 and 4:: commonlyemployed in the production of jersey knit fabrics. These threads extendfrom the beams 1 and 2 over spring tension bars 5 and (i to and throughthe e es 7 and 8 of guide bars 9 and 10. 11 is t e usual presser bar, 12the barbed needle, 13 the needle bar, and 1-1 the needle bar guide orsinker. In the ordinary operation of a Tricot or fast warp knittinmachine threads 3 and 4 only are employer, which are linked or loopedand lapped upon the needles and manipulutcd by the cooperating parts ofthe machine to produce an elastic knitted fabric which is uniform inweight, thickness and appearance throughout. For theproduction of my newfabric, however, I supply the machine with an added or third beam 15 andtension bar 16,.and also a'third guide bar 17 provided with a guide eye18, such added parts being employed for the introduction, in a novelmanner, of a third thread 19 which extends from the beam 15 over the bar16 andthrough the aide eye for introduction with the threacs 3 and 4into the fabric in the manner hereinafter specified. At 20 is shown thecompleted knitted fabric whichwinds upon the cloth roll 21.

In the method of making my improved fabric, the threads 3, 4 and 19 areconstantly supplied from the beams 1, 2 and 15 to the knitting mechanismand the threads 3 and 4 are knitted together so as to form an u perfabrics.

laid therebetween and interlaced therewith as an intermediate warp so asto produce a fabric which is of increased thickness, strength and weightsmooth and even surfaced and of uniform thickness, strength andweightthroughout. Furthermore, the said threads 3, 4 and 19 are so associatedas to form a fabric having certain novel char acteristic featuresfromthe standpoint of structure and appearance adapting it particularly forthe purposes for-which it is designed, as will hereinafter more fullyappear.

By reference to Figure 1 it will be seen that the threads 3 and '4 feedfrom the beams 1 and 2 through the eyes 7 and 8 of the guide bars 9 and10, which guide bars move from right to left, in opposite directions,and lap or loop the threads on the needles in the usual way for makingjersey In producing a silk faced fabric in accordance with my inventionthe threads 3 and 4 are silk threads, which, for convenience ofdescription, may be termed front and rear silk threads, While thethreads 19, which, for convenience of description, may be termed backingthreads, may be of wtton, linen or wool, or any material suitable forgiving increased strength and durability to the knitted silk fabric. Thethread loops 4'are arranged or spaced in adjacent single rows or walesand have a single needle traverse between sucessive needles in theknitting action, while the thread loops 3 are arranged two rows or walesapart, measured with relation to the rows of threads 4, and have a twoneedle traverse between. alternately arranged needles in the knittingaction, in which they jump from one needle to another across anintervening needle. The distance traversed b the threads 3 accord- Iingly in the formation of its threads loops requires a greater amount ofsilk feed (about one third more) than that required by the threads 4.The threads 3 in the knit are thrown over toward the. front and form themajor portion of the face surface of. the fabric, the remainder of whichis completed by the threads 4, and this excess of silk on the face sideof the fabric covers and conceais all portions of'the threads 19 at thefront, thus giving at the front of the-fabric the appearance of a fabricmade entirely of silk throughout. Inintroducing the backing thread 19the guide 17 on its descent carries the thread down against the back ofthe needle, between the portions of the threads 3 and 4 at such side ofthe needle, said thread 19 thence extending across or lapping the needleand passing to the front thereof and finally between the threads 3 and 4at the point where the thread loops are closed to form the completedfabric 20. In this operation the thread 19 has a two needle traverselike the thread 3 so that said thread 19 will give anexcess of materialIn'so introducing the backing threacl'19 it will be observed, byreference to Figure 2, that the threads 19 are not linked or looped andknitted in with the threads 3 and 4, but are laid in between the threads3 and 4, passing zig-zag fashion back and forth between alte'rnate rowsof the loops of threads 3 and 4 and across an intermediate row of saidthread loops. Also that at the points of intersection or bends of thezigzag thread stretches 19, the threads 19 pass through the loops ofthreads 3 and 4 and are thereby bound and held in position in thefabric. The arrangement described throws the binder threads 19, over atthe rear of the silk threads 3 and 4 so that the threads 19 form themajor portion of the rear surface of the fabric, the remainder of saidsurface-being made up by portions of the threads 4. In other words, bythis method I inlay a third warp 19 complete between an upper warp 3 anda lower warp 4 by a regular traverse of said warp 19 around two needles,while the upper and lower" warps are knitted to form a regular tricotfabric over such third or intermediate warp. In the completed fabric,therefore, the silk threads 3, in entirety, and the major portions ofthe silk threads 4 form the front surface of the fabric, which isentirely of silk, while the backing threads 19, in entirety, and minorportions of the threads 4, form the rear surface of the fabric which iscomposed almost entirely of the thread material of greater strength anddurability. As an example of'the composition of the back of the fabricit may be assumed that the threads 4 and 19 are of different andcontrasting colors, in which event the-predominating color of the hackof the fabric will be that'of the threads 19, fiecked by the color ofthe portions of the threads 4 which show at the rear.

A fabric thus made will have all the appearance at the front of beingmade entirely of silk, while it will be thickened, strength ened andrendered of greatly increased durability by the backing threads, which,by reason of their bein thrown entirely to the rear, will serve theirstatedfunction without detracting from the effect and a pearance to begiven to the face of the, abric. When used as foot and heel portions inthe manufacture of cut-silk stockings, 'whose body portions are made ofthin jersey silk, my improved fabric will furnish thick, strong anddurable foot and heel portions having the appearance of being made ofthe same material as the stocking body and noise which, if desired, maybe of a color or pattern to accord therewith. By reason also of the factthat a quite hvy appearance of silk is presented at the. front, asemblance of heavy silk goods is furnished, and, as the threads 19extend throughout the fabric, which is of uniform weight, thickness andstrength, a substitute for elastic all-silk material is provided whichis suitable for use for many purposes, as in the manufacture of gloves,corsets, brassires, underwear, mens soft collars, shirts, and for allpurposes where an all-silk efiect is desired coupled with long wearingqualities. A valuable feature of the product, constructed and madeaccording to the method described, is that while the fabric is a knitfabric, it has every appearance in texture'of being a fine quality wovenfabric, whereby its qualifications for many and various uses isincreased. This fabric will also stand stretching (finishing) andpreserve its shape better than ordinary 'ersey knit goods.

Having thus fully escribed my invention, I claim:

1. The herein-described warp fabric consisting of two sets of loopedsilk threads respectively of single traverse and of double traverse, anda third set of threads of greater strength and durability than said silkthreads, the silk threads being arranged to form upper and lower warpsand the third threads intermediate warps laid between said upper andlower warps, said intermediate Warp threads being inlaid in doubletraverse arrangement between the upper and lower warps and held by oneset of the silk warps, the silk warps being knit to produce a regulartricot fabric over the intermediate warps.

2. The herein-described warp fabric comprising a jersey knit fabricstructure made up of two sets of looped silk body threads, respectivelyof single traverse and of double traverse, the material of the doubletraverse body threads being in excess of the material of the singletraverse body threads and arranged to mainly form the face of thefabric, and a backing thread of a material of,

greater strength and durability than the out, said fabric being smoothsurfaced on both sides and presenting a solid silk fabric appearance atthe front thereof and a reinforcing surface mainly constituted by thebacking threads at the rear thereof.

3. The method of producing a jersey knit warp fabric of increasedweight, strength and thickness, from two warp beams and two coactingguides two silk body threads to certain needles, looping together saidthreads by the action of the needles and associated parts of theknitting mechanism while causm one body thread to have a back and forthsingl traverse and the other body thread to have a back and forth dowbletraverse, thereby formin a plain jersey knit fabric structure of whichthe double traverse silk threads mainly form the front-having added silkmaterial in excess of the silk material contained b supplying f om athird beam and a ooacting third guide a backin thread of greaterstrength and durability than the silk threads and lapping said backingthreads via a back and forth zig-zag double traverse around twoneedlesrwithout passage therethrough and inlaying the same between thesilk threads throughout the entire area'of the formed fabric, so as tocause said backing threads to be held by portions of the single traversesilk threads and to be disposed so. as to form with such portions ofsaid silk threads the back of the fabric.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature.

PAUL QUICK.

which consists in supplylng' the single traverse silk threads,-

